JP2001317682A - Piping joint and liquid filler using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent growth of bubbles entrained in the piping of a liquid filler. SOLUTION: An upwardly saliently curved portion of the piping of the liquid filler is equipped with a piping joint, which comprises a piping support block 21 fitted airtightly on the periphery of piping 3 including an opening thereof and provided with a communicating passage 21d between the piping 3 and the outside, a permselective membrane 26 arranged in the passage 21d and permeable only to gas, and an exhausting means for holding the communicating passage to the outside at a slight vacuum.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pipe joint and a liquid injection device using the same, and more particularly, to a joint and a liquid injection device for discharging bubbles mixed in, for example, an electrolytic solution or the like in a pipe. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a liquid injection device, particularly in a device for injecting an electrolytic solution into a battery can, precise control of the injection amount is required because the performance of the battery is affected by the injection amount. FIG.
Shows a basic configuration of a general electrolytic solution injecting device into a battery can, and is provided by a fixed-rate discharge pump 1 having a flow rate adjusting screw 2.
The electrolyte 5 sucked from the electrolyte sub-tank 4 through the suction pipe 3 is injected into the outer can 7 of the battery through the discharge pipe 6.

An electrolyte main tank 8 is provided near the electrolyte sub-tank 4, and the electrolyte 5 is supplied to the electrolyte sub-tank 4 by a suction pipe 9, a pump 10 and a discharge pipe 11. On the other hand, similarly, the suction pipe 12, the pump 13, and the discharge pipe 14
Discharges the electrolytic solution 5 from the electrolytic solution sub-tank 4 to the electrolytic solution main tank 8, whereby the level of the electrolytic solution 5 in the electrolytic solution sub-tank 4 is always kept constant as shown by a dotted line A in the figure. .

[0004]

In the electrolyte injection device having such a configuration, the entire device is formed as a closed system to prevent air from entering from outside. Are inevitably mixed as bubbles in the electrolytic solution.
Then, the minute bubbles generated by the operation of the apparatus for a long time move upward and gradually gather and grow. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the bubbles grow greatly in the upwardly curved portions of the suction pipe 3 and the discharge pipe 6 (regions surrounded by broken lines B and C in the drawing).

[0005] That is, as shown in FIG. 4, in the areas B and C of the suction pipe 3 and the discharge pipe 6, the grown bubbles 15 remain in the electrolyte 5. Generally, a liquid such as an electrolytic solution is incompressible, but since bubbles are compressible, when the bubbles grow large as described above, the discharge amount to be set to a certain amount changes, and variation occurs, There is a problem that the liquid at the tip nozzle of the discharge pipe 6 runs out poorly.
As described above, since the injection amount of the electrolytic solution affects the performance of the battery, if the discharge amount varies, the battery performance is significantly reduced, and the production yield is reduced.

Therefore, conventionally, the suction pipe 3 and the discharge pipe 6
Attempts have been made to attach a cock to places where air bubbles easily accumulate, open the cock at any time to discharge air bubbles, but in that case it is safe if the electrolyte scatters outside and the electrolyte is strongly alkaline Problems arise. Further, when the electrolytic solution adheres to the outer peripheral surface of the pipe, there is also a problem that the metal salt precipitates there and the surroundings of the pipe are contaminated.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the inventors of the present invention did not carry out an intermittent operation of removing bubbles in a pipe as in the prior art. As a result of various studies on a means capable of constantly discharging the generated air bubbles to the outside, a pipe joint and a liquid injection device using the same as described later have been developed.

That is, a pipe joint of the present invention is hermetically fitted to an outer peripheral surface including an opening of a pipe, and is provided in the pipe support block having a communication path between the pipe and the outside, and the communication path. A selectively permeable membrane that allows only gas to pass therethrough, and an exhaust unit that maintains the communication path with the outside at a weak negative pressure. In addition, the liquid injection device of the present invention includes a fixed-rate discharge pump, a suction pipe connecting the pump and a liquid tank, and a pump for discharging a liquid sucked from the liquid tank by the pump into a desired container. And a discharge pipe, wherein the joint according to claim 1 is disposed at an upwardly curved portion of the suction pipe and / or the discharge pipe.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a pipe joint and a liquid injection device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition,
The liquid injection device of the present invention is one in which the pipe joint of the present invention is attached to regions B and C curved above the suction pipe 3 and / or the discharge pipe 6 of the conventional liquid injection device shown in FIG. Therefore, here, the configuration of the pipe joint will be described.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an example of the structure of a piping joint according to the present invention, in which this joint 20 is attached to a suction pipe 3 (the same applies to a case where it is attached to a discharge pipe 6). In FIG. 1, a pipe joint 20 has a passage 21 therein.
a, for example, a box-shaped pipe support block 21 on which a is formed;
The piping support block 21 includes a holding block 22 fixed to the upper surface of the piping support block 21 by, for example, screws. The region C of the suction pipe 3 shown in FIG. 3 is cut over a predetermined length,
The cut ends 3a, 3b are inserted until they come into contact with the step subs 21b, 21c in the internal passage 21a of the pipe support block 21, respectively, and are airtightly fitted through packings 23, 24.

The pipe support block 21 has a communication hole 21d extending upward from the internal passage 21a, and the holding block 22 has a communication hole 22a formed vertically.
The communication hole 22a is connected to an exhaust unit (not shown) such as a vacuum pump. At the boundary between the communication hole 21b and the communication hole 22a, a gas-permeable and liquid-permeable permselective membrane 26, specifically, for example, Gore-Tex or Micro-Tex (both are trade names) is a packing 27 and a backup. These are arranged in a liquid-tight manner by a plate 28, and these are fixed to the upper surface of the pipe support block 21 by a press block 22. The backup plate 28 has at least one, preferably a plurality of small holes 28a.
Are formed.

In the electrolytic solution injection device provided with the pipe joint 20 having the above-described configuration, the electrolytic solution 5 is allowed to flow through the suction pipe 3 and the above-described exhaust device is operated to open the communication holes 21d and 22a. Is always maintained at a slight negative pressure. The minute air bubbles 29 generated in the electrolytic solution with the passage of time move upward through the communication hole 21b when reaching the passage 21a of the pipe joint, are discharged from the liquid surface 5a of the electrolytic solution 5, and are selectively permeated. Film 26, small hole 28a of backup plate 28,
It is discharged outside through the communication hole 22a.

Therefore, the minute bubbles 29 in the electrolytic solution are constantly discharged to the outside, so that it is effectively prevented that they grow into large bubbles as in the prior art and stay in the suction pipe to give a variation in the discharge amount. Is done. FIG. 2 shows another configuration of the pipe joint of the present invention, in which the same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The pipe joint 30 includes a pipe support block 31.
Is a structure which also serves as the above-mentioned holding block, and the permselective membrane 32 is disposed in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the suction pipe 3, and the permselective membrane 32 is further connected to the pipe support block via packings 33 and 34. 31 is kept liquid-tight. Further, at least one,
Preferably, a backup plate 35 having a plurality of small holes 35a is similarly closely attached, and
Is fixed by a step portion 31a formed inside. An annular space 31b surrounding the backup plate 35 is formed inside the pipe support block 31, and a communication hole 31c communicating with an upper portion of the annular space 31b.
Are formed. The communication hole 31c is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown) as described above.

The suction pipe 3 is provided with a plurality of small openings 3c, for example, in the form of islands for discharging bubbles generated in the electrolyte 5 flowing through the pipe. In the electrolyte injection device provided with the pipe joint 20 having such a configuration, the electrolyte 5 is caused to flow through the suction pipe 3 and the exhaust device is operated to operate the communication hole 31c and the annular gap 31b.
The inside is always maintained at a slight negative pressure. The minute bubbles 29 generated in the electrolytic solution with the passage of time pass through the selectively permeable membrane 32 and the small holes 35 of the backup plate 35 through the island-shaped openings 3 c of the suction pipe 3.
a, is discharged outside through the annular gap 31b and the communication hole 31c.

Therefore, since the minute bubbles 29 in the electrolyte are constantly discharged to the outside, it is effectively prevented that they grow into large bubbles as in the prior art and stay in the suction pipe to give a variation in the discharge amount. Is done.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The above-mentioned pipe joint 20 is attached to the regions B and C of the electrolyte injection device shown in FIG.
g The adjusting screw 2 of the injection pump 1 was adjusted so as to perform injection. The inside was maintained at a weak vacuum of about 300 Torr by a vacuum pump connected to the communication hole 22a.

Under these conditions, the liquid was injected into the outer can 7, and the amount of the liquid injected was measured. The permissible range of the injection volume is 1.40 g ± 0.02 g. As a result of measuring 5000 outer cans, those exceeding the permissible range are:
There were zero. For comparison, the cocks described above were attached to the regions B and C of the liquid injection device in FIG. 3, and the cocks were opened at regular time intervals to discharge air bubbles grown in the piping, and the outer pipe was formed in the same manner as described above. Injection was performed on 5,000 cans, and the amount of the injection was measured. As a result, some of them exceeded the allowable range. Therefore, fine adjustment of the injection device was sometimes required.

As is clear from the above results, when the electrolyte is injected using the injection device of the present invention,
As compared with the case where a conventional apparatus is used, the injection accuracy is dramatically improved, and the production yield of the battery can be greatly improved.

[0020]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the liquid injection device provided with the pipe joint of the present invention, bubbles mixed in the pipe are prevented from growing and stagnating. When used as a liquid injecting device, the amount of injected liquid does not vary and the production yield of the battery is improved, so that its industrial value is extremely high.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual cross-sectional view illustrating an example of the configuration of a piping joint of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual sectional view showing another configuration example of the pipe joint of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a configuration of a conventional electrolytic solution injection device.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view for explaining bubbles generated in a pipe of a conventional liquid injection device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 metering discharge pump 3 suction pipe 3 a, 3 b end 3 c island opening 4 electrolyte subtank 5 electrolyte 6 discharge pipe 7 battery can 8 electrolyte main tank 20 pipe joint 21 pipe support block 21 a internal passage 21 b, 21 c step 21d Communication hole 22 Holding block 22a Communication hole 23, 24, 27 Packing 26 Selectively permeable membrane 28 Backup plate 28a Small hole 29 Bubble 30 Piping joint 31 Piping support block 31a Stepped portion 31b Annular gap 31c Communication hole 32 Selectively permeable membrane 33,34 Packing 35 Backup plate 35a Small hole

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A piping support block hermetically fitted to an outer peripheral surface including an opening of a pipe and having a communication path between the pipe and the outside, and a selective permeation disposed in the communication path and permeating only gas. A pipe joint comprising: a permeable membrane; and an exhaust means for maintaining a communication path with the outside at a weak negative pressure. 2. A fixed discharge pump, a suction pipe connecting the pump and a liquid tank, and a discharge pipe for discharging a liquid sucked from the liquid tank by the pump into a desired container. 2. The liquid injection device according to claim 1, wherein the joint according to claim 1 is provided at a location curved upward of the suction pipe and / or the discharge pipe. 3.